GOT SHOT CLOCK? COACHES HOPE SO

Rule change would help boys lacrosse remain the ‘fastest game on two feet’

Any basketball fan who watched games at amateur levels in the 1970s lived through the Four-Corner Offense.

Invented by John McClendon and popularized by North Carolina coach Dean Smith, the tactic slowed the game to a crawl with the team holding the lead stalling away large portions of the clock to reduce scoring by its opponent.

Finally, in the mid-1980s, the shot clock was introduced as the NBA had done in 1954, forcing teams to speed up the tempo on offense.

Lacrosse is the latest sport with a shot clock. There is a 60-second timer in the Major Lacrosse League. At the NCAA level, a 30-second shot clock begins once a referee has issued a stalling warning.

High school coaches in San Diego, gearing up for the boys lacrosse playoffs that begin this week, believe a shot clock is in their near future, too.

“We’re normally about a year behind anything that hits college lacrosse,” La Costa Canyon coach Jesse Foss said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we’re not talking about a shot clock before next season.”

In the MLL, the shot clock is reset after a goal, a shot hits the post, is saved by the goalie or there is a change of possession. Teams have 20 seconds to clear the ball across the midfield line.

The collegiate rule is completely different. Game officials must issue a warning for stalling before the 30-second timer begins ticking. The same MLL criteria to determine a valid shot attempt are copied by the NCAA. The shot clock turns off when a shot hits the goal post, is saved by the goalie or results in a goal.

“The college rule is a bit discretionary, but the easiest thing to do would be to implement the college rule first,” said Torrey Pines coach Jonathan Zissi, whose team is seeded No. 1 in the Open Division. “Baby steps.

“This game is supposed to be played up and down the field. That’s why it’s the fastest game on two feet.

“A shot clock would keep the action moving and not stagnate at one end of the field for a long period.”

Poway coach Zack Burke does not see a big adjustment for most teams in the San Diego Section, including his own.

“My team attacks so a shot clock probably wouldn’t come into play much for us,” Burke said. “Some teams like to set up and pass the ball around for two or three minutes. I can’t stand that as a coach and I feel sorry for the players and the fans who have to watch it.”

Burke thinks the reason the shot clock is making its way down from the pros to the NCAA and eventually to the high school level is simple.

“It’s all about TV,” he said. “The pros and colleges are trying to increase revenue from each sport and the one way to do that is to make the game more exciting. That translates into more scoring.

“And how do you increase scoring? Give each team more possessions and running the lacrosse version of the four-corner offense isn’t the way to do that.”